This invention primarily relates to tube shirts of the tank-top, T-shirt and sweat shirt variety and, more particularly, to a torso-covering tube garment capable of selectively fully-covering or partially-covering the lower torso of a wearer comprising, a torso-covering tube garment of a foldable material having a bottom portion covering a wearer's torso; and, fastening means for releasably holding a lower portion of the bottom portion against an upper portion of the bottom portion whereby a lower portion of the wearer's torso is exposed for ventilating.
T-shirts and sweat shirts are popular for everyday casual wear and for participating in sports. Basically, T-shirts and sweat shirts are of the same design with the difference being in the weight of the material used with T-shirts being of lighter weight than sweat shirts. Tank-tops are of similar construction except that the sleeves are omitted and replaced by over-the-shoulder straps. Thus, while both T-shirts and sweat shirts will be addressed in the descriptions of the prior art and the present invention which follow, it is to be understood that they are really interchangeable and that what can be done with one can be done with the other, or with a tank-top. For convenience only, therefore, only T-shirts will be addressed for the most part hereinafter.
The reason that T-shirts are popular particularly in warm weather is that they are light weight, absorb perspiration, protect against sunburn, protect against drafts after exercise when the body is hot and cooling down, and are easily washed. On the other hand, during particularly strenuous exercise in hot weather, even the lightest T-shirt material prevents air from reaching the body surface to assist in body cooling through evaporation. For this reason, the basic prior art T-shirt 10 of FIG. 1 has been modified in various ways to provide internal ventilation.
For example, in FIG. 2 the T-shirt 10 has had ventilation holes 12 added in the under-arm area. Carried a step further, the T-shirt 10' of FIG. 23 has the entire bottom portion 14 of a net material. The ultimate, of course, is the T-shirt 10" of FIG. 6 which has the entire bottom portion 14 removed to form a "crop-top" shirt. While the shirts 10', 10" provide a high degree of ventilation, they do nothing to stop the sun's rays and prevent sunburn. Moreover, they no longer stop drafts which can cause muscle cramping and other problems while the body is cooling off following exercise.
It should also be noted that the holes 12 of FIG. 2 and the net material of FIG. 3 are also employed in jackets and raincoats, particularly under a covering flap in the yoke portion of the garment so that the garment can "breath" while preventing rain from entering therethrough.
T-shirt shaped garments are also employed for other uses with access panels that can be opened and closed. For example, FIG. 4 depicts the back of a hospital gown 16 that has tie strips 18 for holding it together while FIG. 5 depicts a hospital gown 16' that has a side opening that can be held together with tie strips 18.
Examples of such prior art garments can be found in the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,728 showing ventilation holes in a garment. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 16,900 showing underarm venting. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 1,998,051 showing an operating robe for patients having opening embodiments but no securing means. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,497,764 showing a hospital bed gown with tie strips at the back. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,154,789 showing a disposable examination garment having fasteners for securing the sides together. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,848 showing a color changeable athletic jersey. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,715 showing a protective garment having variable ventilation entry and exit panels. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,315 showing a garment with one piece used for upper and/or lower body covering. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,086 showing a hospital gown with seamed opening and closing means.
The basic problem with these prior art garments is that they are meant to be used in one configuration. They may have access panels, ventilation holes, or the like; but, they are only used one way. What is needed is a garment that has one configuration for covering the user completely and another configuration providing maximum ventilation wherein there is a way to hold the garment in either configuration as desired.
Wherefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a torso-covering tube garment which can be worn in a covering configuration or a ventilating configuration.
It is another object of this invention to provide a torso-covering tube garment which can be worn with the bottom portion lowered to cover the torso of the wearer or worn with the bottom portion held in a raised position to expose the torso of the wearer.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a torso-covering tube garment which can be converted from a covering configuration to a ventilating configuration without removal from the wearer.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a torso-covering tube garment which can be employed in a ventilating configuration during exercise and then converted to a covering configuration during a cool-down period of the body following the termination of the exercise.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a torso-covering tube garment which is converted from a covering configuration to a ventilating configuration by overlapping a bottom portion upon itself to shorten it thereby to expose the lower portion of a wearer's torso.
Other objects and benefits of this invention will become apparent from the description which follows hereinafter when read in conjunction with the drawing figures which accompany it.